Luis Suarez could face a lengthy ban that would force him to miss the rest of the World Cup if found guilty of biting Italy's Giorgio Chiellini.

Fifa, football's governing body, opened disciplinary proceedings after Uruguay's 1-0 win on Tuesday and has requested television footage.

Chiellini claimed Suarez bit him on the left shoulder, but Suarez said the defender "bumped" into him.

Suarez, 27, could be banned for up to 24 matches or two years.

Fifa said in a statement: "The player has the right to be heard and has until 21:00 BST to submit all documentation.

"The disciplinary committee does not yet have all the elements to discuss the matter. We cannot speak about what could potentially happen. This is in the hands of the disciplinary committee.

"The body pronouncing the sanction decides the scope and duration of it - so we really cannot anticipate what could or could not happen and that's all we can actually say.

"The disciplinary committee understands the urgency of the matter because Uruguay are still in the competition."

Mexican referee Marco Rodriguez took no action following the incident, but Fifa can still punish Suarez.

Radio 5 live's Richard Conway, who is in Brazil to report on the World Cup, said: "Given that spitting at an opponent carries a minimum tariff of six games, you would expect biting to carry a ban in excess of that.

"That gives you the benchmark many people are working on and would mean his World Cup would be over."

Former Liverpool midfielder Jan Molby expects Suarez to be banned for the rest of tournament.

The Dane told the Liverpool Echo newspaper: "I'm sure Fifa will make an example out of him. Obviously, his World Cup is over and I would expect Fifa to give him a long international ban."

The longest ban in World Cup history is eight games, handed out in 1994 to Italy defender Mauro Tassotti for breaking Spain's Luis Enrique's nose with his elbow during the second half of their quarter-final.

Uruguay face Colombia in the last 16 on Saturday after finishing second in Group D behind Costa Rica.

Suarez's actions have already received widespread condemnation.

Former England captain Alan Shearer told BBC Sport: "The pictures are damning and I don't see how he can get away with it."

Chris Waddle, a member of England's World Cup squads in 1986 and 1990, said: "There will be people who will defend him, but I don't know why. I'd make him wear a gumshield."

Suarez has twice been suspended for biting opponents.

The Liverpool forward was given a 10-game ban for biting Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic's arm during a Premier League match in April 2013.

He was also suspended for seven games for biting PSV Eindhoven's Otman Bakkal's shoulder while Ajax captain in 2010.

In December 2011, Suarez was also given an eight-match suspension and fined £40,000 for racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra.

After the Ivanovic incident, Liverpool said they had spoken to Suarez about his "unacceptable" behaviour.

"This is a club with incredible values and ethics," said Reds boss Brendan Rodgers at the time. "There's certainly no-one bigger than this club, a player or manager."

Suarez has also been criticised during his career for diving and stamping during games, prompting former Liverpool director of football Damien Comolli to suggest the Uruguayan could be driven out of England.

"This is a person who definitely needs some help," former England boss Graham Taylor told Radio 5 live.

"If you look at Suarez's reaction afterwards, it's like he knows what he's done."

Last season, he helped Liverpool to a second-placed finish in the Premier League, winning the Golden Boot with 31 goals in 33 games.

He was named player of the year by both the Football Writers' Association and Professional Footballers' Association.

Liverpool have not made any comment on the latest incident and will let Fifa deal with it before deciding on any action.

Asked about the alleged bite, Suarez told Uruguayan television after the game: "There are things that happen on the pitch and you should not make such a big deal out of them. It was just the two of us inside the area and he bumped into me with his shoulder."

Chiellini, 29, described Suarez as "a sneak".

He added: "I'd love to see if Fifa has the courage to use video evidence against him. The referee saw the bite mark but he did nothing about it."

Okay, the article is way longer, so just click on the link if you want to keep reading.

But what do you all think?

Was it a bite or was it a bump?

I didn't see.

The replay I saw made it seem like a really fast thing, leading me to think that it may have been no more than a bump, but maybe a different angle would reveal something else.

And, of course, his past is against him on this one.

__________________

Sunny

"The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."

The actual person he bit said it was too much of a punishment. I've already moved on.

Have you been watching any of Wimbledon? Li lost today. She was the 2nd seed on the women's side. Caroline Wozniacki has been playing much better than she did at the French Open last month. Nice to see Milos Raonic & Genie Bouchard continue their success at grand slam tournaments this year. They're my picks to win it.

Soccer fans tormented by poor officiating in games caught a glimmer of hope Friday when the head of the sport's governing body proposed a few rough guidelines for use of instant-replay technology in the future.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter said coaches should have the right to challenge referees' decisions using video evidence during matches, as long as it doesn't stop play. He ruled out any changing of controversial offside decisions but said penalty calls and other situations could be up for discussion.

"We should give another help to the referee and a little bit more justice to the game by giving the coaches a so-called challenge call, so that they have a challenge call twice in a half," Mr. Blatter said in a video posted to the Internet by FIFA's press office.

To me it seems a desperate attempt to score points for the next election, I don't really believe he has any concrete intention of changing things because he was very vague about when the change would come into effect.
I truly hope he doesn't get re-elected, btw.

Paralympian accused of murdering his girlfriend on Valentine's Day can be held criminally responsible, court is told

Oscar Pistorius was not suffering from a mental illness on the night he shot dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp and can be held criminally responsible, a psychiatric report said on Monday.

The conclusion of a panel of mental health experts following their observation of the Paralympian was revealed at the long-awaited resumption of his "blockbuster" trial at the high court in Pretoria, South Africa.

Pistorius, 27, is accused of murdering Steenkamp, a model and law graduate, after a furious argument on Valentine's Day last year. He denies the charge and claims he shot four times through a locked bathroom door after hearing a noise and assuming she was a burglar.

The trial, which is being followed by millions of people around the world, came to an abrupt halt in May when Pistorius was sent for psychiatric observation following an expert witness's testimony that he suffered an anxiety disorder.

When it restarted on Monday, an evaluation that had taken 30 days at Weskoppies psychiatric hospital was disposed of in just a few minutes. Prosecutor Gerrie Nel said: "Mr Pistorius did not suffer from a mental defect or mental illness at the time of the commission of the offence that would have rendered him criminally not responsible for the offences charged."

He was reading from two reports prepared by a psychologist and three psychiatrists. "Mr Pistorius was capable of appreciating the wrongfulness of his act," Nel added.

Sitting in the dock, Pistorius, wearing a charcoal suit and white shirt, stared straight ahead as Nel briefly quoted from the reports. His defence counsel, Barry Roux, said his team agreed with the reports but asked for more time to review them.

The findings came as no surprise to either side. The defence had appeared taken aback when the prosecution called for Pistorius to undergo psychiatric tests after witness Dr Merryll Vorster testified that he has a "generalised anxiety disorder" that could have been a factor in the killing. It opposed the application and Pistorius himself, speaking to reporters, dismissed it as a "joke".

For its part, the prosecution, which has repeatedly accused Pistorius of failing to take responsibility for his actions, is understood to have wanted any hint of an excuse about his mental state taken off the table. In this its gambit was successful, albeit at the cost of a lengthy hiatus.

When the defence resumed on Monday – day 34 of the trial – attention switched from Pistorius's mind to his body. Clearly uncomfortable, the "blade runner" was asked to sit on a bench and remove his prosthetic limbs to allow judge Thokozile Masipa and her two legal assessors to inspect his stumps and how the skin moves on them. The demonstration was not visible in the public gallery or on TV.

Defence witness Gerald Versfeld, an orthopaedic surgeon who amputated Pistorius's lower legs when he was 11 months old, testified that the Olympic athlete is wobbly on his stumps and experiences "severe pain" when standing on them. Pistorius was born without fibulas, the slender bones that run from below the knee to the ankle.

"On his stumps Oscar Pistorius has serious difficulty walking or standing without support," Versfeld said. "On his stumps he is seriously vulnerable in a dangerous situation with a severely impaired ability to flee, severely impaired ability to ward off danger, without a weapon, and in danger of falling should he put the stump down incorrectly."

Versfeld also read out a statement from Pistorius that said: "The dog can knock me over, in fact the dog has knocked me over many times."

The defence argues that Pistorius could not have smashed down the toilet door with a cricket bat while on his stumps, as the prosecution claims, when trying to reach Steenkamp moments after shooting her.

During cross-examination, Nel suggested that Pistorius had overstated his immobility and that he had in fact moved around on his stumps, carrying a pistol without falling, before and after Steenkamp's death.

The defence next called Ivan Lin, an engineer and acoustics expert, to testify if Pistorius's neighbours could have differentiated between a man and a woman screaming.

Earlier in the trial, state witnesses said they heard a woman's "bloodcurdling screams" the night Pistorius shot Steenkamp. The defence contends that Pistorius sounds like a woman when he screams.

"Although typically one can differentiate a male and female scream, one cannot say it reliably without exception," Lin told the court.

He cast doubt on the state witnesses who lived 177 metres from Pistorius and testified that they heard a woman screaming. Lin said it is "very unlikely" that people living at such a distance from the house could "hear the screams let alone interpret the sound source reliably".

It is thought the defence will call one or two more witnesses before resting its case. Both sides will then require a few more weeks to compile their written submissions before presenting them to the court. They will return to court to answer final questions on their arguments.

South Africa does not have jury trials, so a verdict will be delivered by the judge. Pistorius faces a maximum of 25 years in prison if convicted of murder.

I think that was his last Hail Mary.

I suppose the judge could always surprise us all, but I think it's becoming increasingly clear that the only probable verdict is a guilty one.

I do find it interesting that people living up to 177 metres away have testified that they heard the victim scream, though. I guess people will do a lot to get their 15 minutes, huh?

__________________

Sunny

"The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."

Oscar Pistorius has post-traumatic stress disorder and could be a suicide risk, according to a psychologist's report submitted at his murder trial.

The report, read by his defence lawyer, said he was mourning his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

On Monday, the court heard that he was not suffering from a mental disorder when he shot Ms Steenkamp.

He denies murder, saying he killed her by mistake when fearing there was an intruder in the house.

The prosecution says the Olympic athlete deliberately killed Ms Steenkamp, a model and law graduate, after the couple had an argument.

Both prosecution and defence have accepted the findings of the psychologist's report. The BBC's Andrew Harding, who was in court, notes that both sides can interpret its findings favourably.

Two reports - one by a psychologist and another by three psychiatrists - were drawn up after a month of tests to evaluate the athlete's state of mind.

The prosecution on Monday noted that the psychiatrists' report said Mr Pistorius, 27, was capable of distinguishing between right and wrong and so should bear criminal responsibility for his actions.

Defence lawyer Barry Roux on Wednesday quoted the second evaluation as saying that Mr Pistorius, a double-amputee, has a history of feeling insecure and vulnerable, especially without his prosthetic legs.

It said he was likely to react more sharply to fear than an able-bodied person would.

"Should he not receive proper clinical care, his condition is likely to worsen and increase the risks for suicide," Mr Roux quoted the report as saying.

It also said he did not show signs of narcissism or explosive rage, which is usually seen in men who are abusive to their partners.

The court has previously heard that Ms Steenkamp had sent the athlete a message saying: "I'm scared of you sometimes."

Final defence witness Wayne Derman, professor of sports and exercise medicine at the University of Cape Town, said Mr Pistorius was an anxious individual, with hand tremors and chronic problems with the stumps of his legs.

Earlier, Mr Pistorius' manager was cross-examined, with prosecutor Gerrie Nel concentrating on the sprinter's reported rows with roommate Arnu Fourie and his love life.

On Tuesday, Peet van Zyl said Mr Pistorius had become a "global icon" at the 2012 London Olympics and could have increased his income five or six times.

He competed in both the Paralympic and Olympic games.

Mr van Zyl said the athlete was also an "astute businessman" and there were a lot of opportunities for him because of his raised profile.

Our correspondent says that as he sat in the dock, Mr Pistorius must surely have contemplated the future outlined by Mr van Zyl - a future now utterly transformed.

Mr Pistorius says he fired multiple shots into a toilet cubicle where Ms Steenkamp was, while in a state of panic.

The sprinter and Ms Steenkamp, 29, had been dating for about three months before the shooting.

He has often displayed his emotions during the trial, including breaking down in tears in court.

There are no juries at trials in South Africa, so the athlete's fate will ultimately be decided by the judge, assisted by two assessors.

If found guilty of murder, Mr Pistorius, who went on trial on 3 March, could face life imprisonment. If he is acquitted of that charge, the court will consider an alternative charge of culpable homicide, for which he could - if convicted - receive about 15 years in prison.

At least two people die and 19 are injured after part of World Cup infrastructure plan in Belo Horizonte collapses

An unfinished overpass collapsed in the Brazilian World Cup host city of Belo Horizonte on Thursday, killing at least two people, emergency officials said.

Television images showed the front of a passenger bus crushed by the overpass, which was located about two miles (3 km) from the Mineirão Stadium where World Cup games are being played. Other vehicles were also crushed underneath the wreckage.

Two people died and 19 were injured, a spokeswoman for the Minas Gerais state health department told Reuters on Thursday. The mayor's office put the injury toll at 22. A fire department spokesman said there was still one person trapped in a car, and possibly others.

Renata Soares, who said she was on the bus at the moment of the accident, told GloboNews TV: "We were travelling normally and then there was a terrible noise. I am sure that more people in other cars were underneath the debris."

GloboNews TV showed video of bloodied passengers of the bus staggering
away from the wreckage, screaming. Later, pictures near the scene showed people holding signs that said, "This is the reality of the Cup" and "World Cup disaster: put it on Fifa's bill."

"This is the incompetence of our authorities and our businesses," said Leandro Brito, 23, a bank worker. "Because of the World Cup they sped everything up to finish faster. That's why this tragedy has happened. They are not making things properly. Everyone is very angry."

Brazil's president, Dilma Rousseff, offered her government's assistance to local authorities if needed.

"In this moment of pain, I offer my solidarity to the families of the victims," she said on Twitter.

Work on the network of bus corridors began in 2010 and was supposed to finish in May. Some portions of the network are running, but long stretches are still under construction.

The cause of the accident, the worst since the month-long tournament began on 12 June, was unclear and no workers were known to be on the overpass when it fell.

Rescue operations continued under floodlights, and officials had not been able to reach one of the trapped cars.

"We cannot reach the vehicle; we don't know how many victims there are and there could still be someone alive," Estevo said.

A World Cup semi-final will be held in Belo Horizonte on Tuesday. The stadium has already hosted five games.

After Brazil was awarded the World Cup in 2007, politicians promised $8bn (£4.7bn) would be spent on 56 airports, subway lines and other such projects nationwide.

But fewer than 10 of the infrastructure projects were opened in time for the tournament.

Last month, a worker died after a 90-tonne beam fell during the construction of a monorail train project in São Paulo.

The heavy government spending on the World Cup and long delays in infrastructure projects have spurred violent street protests in Brazil over the past year, although they have died down in recent weeks.

Obviously, there is supreme sadness for the loved ones of the victims.

But I have to admit that, given what led up to the World Cup, I had anticipated far more deaths.

It's still horrible that anyone has died as the result of unfinished infrastructures, but this isn't as bad as I'd feared it would be.

__________________

Sunny

"The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."

A Swiss helicopter firm is at the centre of an inquiry into attempts to sell F1 ex-champion Michael Schumacher's medical file, reports say.

Schumacher, 45, was moved on 16 June from a French hospital to a hospital in Lausanne in Switzerland.

Although he was transferred by road, initial contact was reportedly made with the helicopter company.

He suffered a severe head injury in a skiing accident last December and has come out of a medically-induced coma.

Schumacher's manager, Sabine Kehm, said last month that his medical files had been "clearly stolen" and were being offered for sale. She warned that criminal charges would be pressed if such "confidential files" were bought or published.

The medical records, said to consist of a few pages written by his doctors in the French city of Grenoble, were apparently being offered for sale to media across Europe for 50,000 euros (£40,000, $68,000).

Now French and Swiss media say the prosecutor in Grenoble is looking at a computer whose IP address has been traced to a Swiss helicopter company, which was sent the medical files while the ex-champion's doctors were considering how to transport him to Lausanne.

The latest development emerged in French newspaper Le Dauphine Libere, and Swiss media said it had been confirmed by the prosecutor in Grenoble.

Suspicions had initially fallen on the hospital in Grenoble and the ambulance team which eventually drove him across the border.

According to the Grenoble prosecutor, the computer was traced back to a helicopter company in the Swiss canton of Zurich. The company's name has not been made public.

The file had been sent to a doctor at the company, although there was nothing to link the doctor to the alleged offence.

The news emerged last month when German newspaper Bild said it had received an email offering the medical files for sale. Swiss, French and UK tabloid newspapers were also said to have been approached.

The Grenoble prosecutor said the handful of pages of the medical file sent appeared to date back to late May, and referred not to Michael Schumacher but a pseudonym, Jeremy Martin.

It is thought the latest findings of the French inquiry will now be handed to the authorities in Switzerland.

Michael Schumacher retired from racing in 2012 after a 19-year career.

The investigation into his accident at the Meribel resort on 29 December said he had been skiing off-piste when he fell and hit a rock.

He had been going at the speed of "a very good skier" at the time, they said.

His family has said very little about his medical progress, preferring to avoid the gaze of the international media.

But Swiss media reported on Monday that Schumacher's wife Corinna had posed smiling for photographs at the weekend while visiting a horse ranch given to her by her husband.

I will never not be shocked at how people are willing to violate people's rights when they are at their most vulnerable, and all in the name of profit.

I don't think I'm being naive when I say that.

Yes, there will always be people to follow their basest instincts to their own benefit.

But I still think it's sick.

__________________

Sunny

"The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."

Paralympian alleged to have argued with man after being interrogated on matters relating to murder trial

Oscar Pistorius has been involved in an altercation at a nightclub, days after his lawyers wound up their defence in his murder trial.

His spokeswoman, Anneliese Burgess, said the athlete was in a booth in the VIP section of a club in Johannesburg's upmarket Sandton district when a man "started to aggressively interrogate him on matters relating to the trial … an argument ensued in which my client asked to be left alone. Oscar and his cousin left soon afterwards. Oscar regrets the decision to go to a public place and thereby invite unwelcome attention."

Burgess said the other man "has now been identified as a Mr Mortimer". South Africa's Star newspaper named him as businessman Jared Mortimer, who offered a different version of the events of Saturday night and claimed Pistorius was drunk.

Mortimer said he reacted after Pistorius, who is free on bail, made disparaging comments about Mortimer's friends and the family of President Jacob Zuma. "I took that personally because I am very good friends with a member of the Zuma family," Mortimer was quoted as saying.

He added that Pistorius was intoxicated and started getting aggressive. "He was poking me and saying that I would never get the better of him. He was close to my face and at that point I pushed him to get him away from me – and he fell to the ground."

The club, The VIP Room, was hosting an exclusive birthday party called the Superhero Squad and many of the guests wore superhero costumes. The club's website says it caters to the "nouveau riche" and invites guests to "slip on your diamante dancing shoes or designer suit and dance the night away at the most ostentatious venue in Joburg".

The club manager insisted "everything is being blown out of proportion''. Perry Mermigas told South Africa's Times newspaper: "I was sitting with him [Pistorius] and his cousin at their table. They were there for an hour and there was definitely no 'altercation' as this person is making out.

"He was chilling with his cousin, nothing more and nothing less. If there was something, like what is being described, we would definitely have got involved. What I can say is that Oscar was at the club and left, like any other normal patrons, after an hour."

On Sunday, hours after the incident, Pistorius tweeted for the first time in five months, posting a Bible verse, a collage of pictures of his humanitarian work and an extract from Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl's book Man's Search for Meaning.

The 27-year-old is accused of the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, at his upmarket home, in Pretoria last year. The double amputee known as the Blade Runner says he killed Steenkamp after mistaking her for an intruder hiding in the toilet next to his bedroom. During the trial which opened in early March, the prosecution argued Pistorius often lost his temper and killed Steenkamp during a row. The case was adjourned until 7 August for legal teams to prepare closing arguments.

On Tuesday night Pistorius's uncle admitted that the athlete is suffering increasing loneliness and alienation and this is leading to "self-harming behaviour".

Leo Pistorius was responding to coverage of the nightclub incident that featured on South African newspaper front pages and TV news bulletins. "Some of the outrageous claims simply cannot stand uncorrected," he said. "Whilst Oscar venturing out into a public space with his cousin in the current climate and whilst his court case is still underway was unwise, those of us closest to him have been witness to his escalating sense of loneliness and alienation. This, we believe, is underlying some of his self-harming behaviour. As a family we are counselling Oscar to find ways of dealing with his feelings of isolation."

Leo went on to challenge Mortimer's widely publicised account of the confrontation. "At the same time, however, we cannot allow one man's untrue version of what happened to stand unchallenged," he said. "Mr Mortimer, who has been unknown to Oscar and our family until he approached the press with his story of the so-called 'altercation' in which he has cast himself as the victim, is a man peddling untruths designed for maximum attention and maximum damage.

"We wish to categorically state that there is absolutely no truth to this man's assertions that Oscar, for instance, insulted the president of South Africa or boasted about our family's so-called influence. Nor is the bizarre statement that our family 'owns the SANDF' [South African National Defence Force]."

He added: "Oscar was at school with one of President Zuma's sons and liked him a lot. Oscar also has great appreciation of President Zuma's extraordinary support of the Paralympians."

The statement concluded: "Both Oscar and his cousin were equally taken aback by Mr Mortimer's accusations relating to the trial. My investigations indicate that Mortimer was the aggressor and eyewitnesses confirm this.

"Being in a public space such as this, and thereby putting himself in a place where this kind of confrontation could take place, was ill considered. We do however believe that Oscar is grappling with an extreme level of emotional pain that is manifesting itself in some of his recent unwise actions and choices."

Obviously, this doesn't look good for him.

But, for one, I don't think anything could make him look anything but bad at this point.

Plus, it's not like it's news that he's got a temper, right?

__________________

Sunny

"The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."